


Just Enough

by Between_A_Dream (orphan_account)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7850929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Between_A_Dream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The quiet had never sounded so deafening. It screamed with a silent fury. It was peaceful. It was relieving. The sounds of battle had finally ceased. It was terrifying. It was haunting. The sounds of life were forever lost. It was the only thing that kept anyone sane. And it was the one thing that drove them all crazy. All they had left were each other. But in that moment, somehow, it was alright. Somehow, it was just enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Enough

Shattered. That was the only word that seemed to fit any questions about the current scene. Hundreds, thousands of gems, from both sides of the war, lay on the battlefield in ruins. It had become a graveyard. In the center of it all, still surrounded by a pink bubble and too afraid to move, were the four remaining members of the rebellion.

It was rare that Rose didn't know what to do. Usually, even in the face of overwhelming odds, she'd always managed to hold her own. That was how she gained the courage to start the rebellion. Pearl, her most trusted solider and closest friend, sat beside her, curled into the pink gem's left side. Her body was trembling. Nothing new, but heartbreaking all the same.

To her right were two much smaller gems. Ruby sat still, her broad arms secured tightly around Sapphire's smaller ones, the two locked in an embrace so tight Rose couldn't help wonder if they realized they weren't fused. Garnet had been there when she had formed the bubble. She didn't remember when they had unfused.

Even after the bubble finally broke, no one made any movement. No one knew what they should do. What _could_ they do? The war was over. Home world's soldiers had fled. The diamonds called back their army. Earth had lost its potential. Too many gems had been lost. Even though many of the shattered remains that surrounded them belonged to the opposing side of the war, the sight of so many lost lives was heartbreaking.

No one had ever seen Sapphire cry. The tears had been slow, subtle at first. She tried to hide them, even from Ruby, but the red gem knew better. She could feel her partner trembling in her arms and pulled her closer. The tears turned to sobs and Sapphire broke down. She clutched at Ruby's body and buried her face in her companion's shoulder, for the first time in her life unable to keep control of her emotions. All Ruby did, all she really _could_ do, was hold her partner tightly and hope that she knew that she loved her with her very being.

Pearl's tears were the next to follow. She clung to Rose and let her tears fall. Crying was nothing new for her. She had always been an open book when it came to her feelings. Rose held her close, pulling her face into her shoulder, as if shielding her eyes would possibly erase the memory of the war. Erase the memory of the diamond's torture. Erase the memory of the shattered lives that surrounded them.

The gems that weren't shattered were corrupted, and Rose didn't know if that was better or worse. Sure, they would exist. But, at the same time, they wouldn't. Not as themselves. They wouldn't really be alive. They would spend forever trapped within a broken monster, tortured and trying to save themselves. Their very minds would be lost. They would forget who they were and spend eternity trying relentlessly to figure it out, being perceived as beasts. The sheer thought of it made her shutter. It was then that she made up her mind. Corruption was definitely worse.

At first, the very idea of corruption had been so obscure of a possibility that no one in the rebellion had paid much attention to any possible rumors about it. The first corrupted gem that anyone came across was small. She was newly corrupted, and she still bore most of her gem body. But she couldn't talk, speaking only in cries, most likely of pain. Rose had cried. Pearl had screamed. Garnet had said nothing, only looking down in sadness. She didn't usually say much anyways. Like Sapphire, she wasn't one to expose many of her feelings.

Corruption continued to be the number one cause of loss of gems from the rebellion throughout the war. Rose couldn't heal them. At least, not completely. Soon, they had restored to having to fight them and let them retreat to their gems. The continuous battles against home world as well as the increasing number of corrupted gems they had to fight took a huge toll on their numbers. There were days where no one could rest, not for a second. The final battle had been the worst.

Hundreds, thousands of gems were lost. The diamonds had made their first and only appearance in the war. At least, on the field of battle. A new weapon, designed by gems that served the elite, had been the end. It shot blasts at groups of gems and shattered them at once. If they survived the blast, they were corrupted. The final shot had been fired days earlier. The only gems that escaped it were the four who had sitting inside Rose Quartz's bubble.

Sapphire suddenly pulled away from Ruby, standing up and looking at the battle field before her. She stared, brushing her bangs away from her eye. The three still on the ground looked between each other, then at the blue gem. There were tears that had started to form near the base of her eye.

"Sapph? Are you... Uh..." Ruby didn't finish. Of course she wasn't ok. None of them were. She didn't know if any of them ever would be. But even if, in the distant future, they managed to recover, it wouldn't be anytime soon. The blue gem ignored her. She started walking, then when she reached a pile of gem shards, she knelt to the ground. She ran her fingers across a single shard, holding it her small hand. Rose was the first to approach her.

"Oh, Sapphire..." she didn't finish. There wasn't a thing she could say that would change the display in front of them. There were at least seven different gems, all of them in shards. The blue gem began to shed tears once more. Then, she collapsed, letting out the most broken cry Rose had ever heard. She screamed, and the sound alone sent shivers up the taller gems entire body.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," she whispered, and if Rose hadn't been standing so close she wasn't sure she would've heard her.

"Sorry? Oh god, Sapphire, no! This is not your fault!" she pulled the smaller gem into a hug. Her own tears started to form. "Sweetie, no one could've predicted this, not even you," she promised, taking a much smaller gloved hand in her own.

"B-But... I should've been a-able to... I should've... I was s-supposed to help," Sapphire whispered. Ruby then was by her side, wrapping her arms around the petite gem.

"Sapphire you did help. You did everything in your power and beyond. And I know that, because I was there by your side when you did it. The earth is safe. Home world is gone. I'm here, and so is Pearl and Rose. And... We love you... _I_ love you," the red gem's words only sent her partner into more tears, but she threw herself into Ruby's arms.

Rose had never heard either of them say they loved each other. She wasn't sure if they ever had. Pearl walked over after a few moments, and she wrapped both her slender arms around Rose's muscular ones, her small body quivering. Sapphire looked up at her partner and sniffled.

"I... I love you too Ruby," she whispered. The way they looked at each other confirmed Rose's theory that they had yet to exchange the words until now. Pearl said nothing, but she looked at Rose, and she knew. Rose knew the way the smaller gem felt about her. She also knew she would have to explain that she didn't return the feelings, but now wasn't the time. In that moment, the only thing any of them could do was hold each other, look around at the shattered gems, the finished war, the barren earth.

The quiet had never sounded so deafening. It screamed with a silent fury. It was peaceful. It was relieving. The sounds of battle had finally ceased. It was terrifying. It was haunting. The sounds of life were forever lost. It was the only thing that kept anyone sane. And it was the one thing that drove them all crazy. All they had left were each other. But in that moment, somehow, it was alright. Somehow, it was just enough.


End file.
